POLITICS
South Bronx Congressional Hopefuls Talk LGBTQ Issues
Ritchie tells personal story, other top contenders tout records, lesser-knowns knock “career politicians”
BY MATT TRACY
A crowded field of candidates
vying to replace
outgoing Congressmember
José Serrano in the
South Bronx packed into Destination
Tomorrow’s Bronx LGBT Center
on January 7 for a two-hour
forum covering a range of queer issues
facing the 15th Congressional
District.
Against the backdrop of the Rainbow
Flag, the Trans Flag, and an
adapted Rainbow Flag with black
and brown stripes aimed at being
inclusive of queer people of color,
a whopping 10 candidates were
on hand, including Bronx Assemblymember
Michael Blake, former
Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito,
Manhattan Councilmember
Ydanis Rodriguez, and out gay
Bronx Councilmember Ritchie Torres.
Homophobic City Councilmember
Ruben Diaz, Sr., who made
headlines earlier this year when he
griped that the City Council was
controlled by the gay community,
was, not surprisingly, absent despite
receiving an invitation.
Torres, the only out LGBTQ candidate
in the race, leaned heavily
into his own personal story as the
first out gay elected official in the
borough. He immediately established
a connection with an audience
that consisted of many queer
Bronx locals.
“No one in this race has secured
more funding and passed more
laws for the benefit of the Bronx
LGBTQ community than I have,
not only because I represent you
but because I’m one of you,” Torres
said as he touted his work in enacting
a law allowing queer-friendly
shelters to serve homeless youth
until they are 24, among many other
measures.
And when candidates were asked
whether they believed that heteronormativity
“is superior of all the
sexualities,” Torres did not shy
away, saying, “My life as an openly
gay man is a rejection of heteronormativity.”
The topics discussed at the event
Out gay City Councilmember Ritchie Torres comfortably leaned into his identity as the Bronx’s fi rst out
LGBTQ elected offi cial during the January 6 congressional debate at Destination Tomorrow.
Former City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito cited her history of supporting LGBTQ rights initiatives
while leading the city’s lawmaking body.
included important issues facing
the community, like healthcare, the
decriminalization of sex work, poverty,
and the daunting task of repairing
the damage President Donald
Trump has inflicted on LGBTQ
people during his time in office.
Some lesser-known candidates,
like Black Lives Matter of Greater
New York co-founder Chivona Renee
Newsome, took thinly veiled
shots at entrenched elected officials,
MATT TRACY
MATT TRACY
painting them as “career politicians”
who have perpetuated the
status quo.
Several candidates, including
Newsome, Mark-Viverito, Samelys
López, and Tomas Ramos touted
support for Medicare for All, but
they were largely short on specifying
whether they would back a public
option or a full single-payer approach.
Torres echoed the rhetoric
of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders,
but carefully avoided aligning
himself with the presidential candidate’s
full-throated support of
single-payer.
“It is a disgrace that the United
States is the only country in the
industrialized world that fails to
provide universal healthcare,” said
Torres, who wrote in a Jim Owles
Liberal Democratic Club questionnaire
for this race that he supports
“Universal Healthcare including
the availability of Medicare for All”
and “a version of single-payer” that
satisfies organized labor’s healthcare
union, 1199, and results in no
loss of healthcare funding or jobs in
the Bronx.
Mark-Viverito described herself
as a “proud supporter of Medicare
for All” and stressed that, in the
meantime, it is important to immediately
improve access to healthcare
services and ensure that people of
the 15th Congressional District do
not need to leave the borough to receive
the care they need.
The former Council speaker cited
the LGBTQ-specific work she carried
out in that post, such as banning
conversion therapy outright
— a ban since repealed amid anticipated
legal challenges from the
conservative right because the prohibition
was not limited, as most
such bans are, to minors. Along
with other candidates, she raised a
sense of urgency about improving
the plight of trans women of color
in the face of unprecedented deadly
violence targeting them.
Multiple candidates, including
Mark-Viverito, Newsome, and Lopez,
brought up the movement to
decriminalize sex work and Lopez
explicitly voiced support for “fully”
decriminalizing the sex trade, siding
with advocates who are seeking
the removal of criminal penalties
for buyers and those who help facilitate
sex work as well as for the
workers themselves.
Blake, a vice chair of the Democratic
National Committee, recalled
working for former President Barack
Obama and playing a role in
helping usher in the Affordable Care
➤ BRONX DEBATE, continued on p.9
January 16 - January 2 8 9, 2020 | GayCityNews.com
/GayCityNews.com
